Currently many types of commodities are packaged on pallets or skids. In order to protect the top layers (in particular) of a commodity from damage caused by stacking, strapping, shipping or bumping, a pallet stacking board is used between stacked pallets.
Currently, most typical pallet stacking boards are composed of a flat sheet of wood, masonite, or laminated paper. These pallet stacking boards are generally fabricated by cutting the proper size flat piece from a sheet of plywood, masonite, or laminated paper. The stacking board is then placed over the top of one pallet before the next pallet is stacked on top of the first. Normally, the stacking board merely rests in place on top of the first pallet, and no additional strapping or like is used to hold the stacking board in place.
The advantage of using the stacking board is that it distributes the weight of the second pallet across the top of the first pallet, and additionally provides physical protection to the contents of the first pallet from the uneven surfaces of the bottom of the pallet being stacked on top of the first pallet.
The use of pallet stacking boards is most commonly done in transport situations wherein pallets are stacked two high, such as in, for example, transport in a typical truck trailer or container. In these applications, the first pallet is positioned in the trailer or container, a stacking board is placed over top of the first pallet's contents, and a second pallet is placed on top of the stacking board. This process is repeated for each lower pallet in the trailer or container.
As a result, damage to the upper contents of the lower pallet is minimized, or eliminated. After use, the flat stacking boards can be easily stacked for re-use with other loads.
It is also possible to provide stacking boards having corner sections which assist in hold the stacking board in place. However, these corner sections make storage and re-use of the stacking boards more difficult, as well as both increasing the cost of the stacking boards, and increasing the likelihood of damage to the stacking boards.
As such, the industry prefers the use of flat stacking boards.
However, with wood, masonite or laminated paper stacking boards, the surfaces of the stacking board can be somewhat slippery so that the upper pallet can slip or slide off of the lower pallet during stacking. The pallets can also shift during transport of the trailer or container, and thus, can cause pallets to fall during unloading of the trailer or container, with the resultant damage to the pallet contents, and with safety implications for the unloading operator.
While adding non-slip surfaces to a wood, masonite or laminated paper stacking board of the prior art might be contemplated, this increases the cost of production by requiring additional steps to adhere the non-slip surface to the stacking board.
As such, providing an improved pallet stacking board which eliminates or ameliorates any or all of these disadvantages would be of benefit to the industry.
Therefore, to overcome these difficulties, it would be advantageous to provide a light-weight, pallet stacking board having a non-slip top and bottom surface, and which pallet stacking boards can be easily, inexpensively and rapidly produced.